Escort quest...

Jeanne really is dead, isn't she?

Between us and Reims is the bog of Vermonde. As you'd expect, it's a swamp. It doesn't poison your characters if you walk into it, fortunately, but it does slow us down. The goal here is to defeat Mawra, the catgirl, but we'll have to get through her backups along the way. Mawra is confused why Jeanne is here but quickly realizes "Jeanne" and Jeanne have a very different smell. There are five archers, but four don't move, and only the dark elf will. The rest of the mobs are orcs and crows. I waited a few turns and let the enemy come to us. Richard and "Jeanne" are mandatory, so I brought along Roger, Giles, and Beatrix. Mawra's backline took out Richard, but the transformed Liana took out the target the next turn.

We'll be in our tents, and Liana is exhausted. She's scared, but Roger manages to cheer her up. The two hold each other while Giles creeps on. I don't remember if it was after this or later, but Giles confronts Roger about it. Giles doesn't care about their relationship, so long as it doesn't interfere with the Charles thing we're trying to do.

We'll finally reach Reims, but it was an ambush the whole time. Mawra is waiting for us with her squad. We remain undaunted and plan to crown our King even with the threat of demons. This means we now have to escort Charles across the map.
 
I'm so glad I'm emulating this and can save state before every turn. Chuck is AI controlled and doesn't attack. He's also very fragile and dies in a stiff breeze. The plan is to stay ahead of him and try not to block him. The orcs on either side are probably far enough away that we don't have to worry about them if Charles runs an optimal route, but we're probably gonna have to kill them anyway. I brought the usual suspects, Marcel, and Beatrix along. I figured two ranged attackers would be great in the tight streets of Reims. At the very least, they might be a distraction, which Beatrix was! About halfway through the map, enemy reinforcements show up, but they weren't a big deal. There is an archer next to Mawra and another in a side street that were the worst part of this battle. Their range and refusal to attack anyone but Charles is reason enough to never play this game legit. I was just about to win when the side street orc archer took killed the Dauphin.

But, even so, I managed to win in ten rounds. Mawra will still want to attack, even when I reach the cathedral, but Blaze will show up to stop her. Blaze is the tigerman, and he reminds Mawra that she used to hate war. He asks her what changed as a hypothetical question since both know it was whatever Henry did to them. They both agree that they lost and return to their master.

We're back to some anime as we watch King Charles get his crown. Liana is clapping with everyone, but she's only thinking of Jeanne, glad she's fulfilled her dream. That night, Rodger has his dream again. He wakes us for Liana to walk in, ecstatic about what they did. What are the sleep habits of our teammates? Similar to last time, it is Liana who tries to cheer Rodger up. However, he tells her he's thinking about leaving the army now that the King has been crowned. Liana reminds him that the English are still around and pleads for him to stay. Despite wanting to find the place in his dream, a place he feels like he's been to, he agrees to remain with Liana.

We cut back to Henry and the three beast warriors who've been annoying us. Slider isn't around, but we hear him scream in the distance, an indication that he's probably just been killed. Henry is enraged that his plan failed again and now wants to take out his frustrations on his "pawns." Mawra is dragged away by the Duke while Blaze watches on. Henry tells a crow to fly to the party...

Charles, though, has opted to pull out. Liana is upset, even if it was, apparently, her idea to do this. I didn't really understand this, but the Duke of Burgundy is in Paris and may or may not be willing to kneel before the true King. Apparently, taking troops out of the field is supposed to sway him? Either way, Georges walks in, and there's a crow beside him. He suggests we prepare for war in Paris, and no one disagrees. ...It's an idea, alright... Before we head out, Giles says his farewells. Now that Charles is King, he has no reason to remain in the army. My party members are dropping! The map opens a trail to Paris, so we'll be heading to the Capital City of the World...

...tomorrow!

This game can be very frustrating, and I don't know if the reward is worth it. It also seems to make plot jumps, and I feel left out. I fear it'll get worse now that I'm out of important party members...